in a dream
the apology
I never gave
Month: October 2016
“Ex Officio” a short haibun by Angele Ellis.
thick dust
the life we lived
in other rooms
emptying her house
all our resentments
packed away
she swings her cane
as if it could cut
flowers she planted
and now cannot name . . .
inside, a cousin seals another box
showing my daughter
how to cartwheel
Indian Summer
drying laundry —
the faded colors
of twilight
after sunset
mountains become the sky
a muezzin’s call
(originally appeared in Frogpond 38:3.? Autumn 2015)
lifting my gaze
to the last of the light
chickadee song
the blue pine’s
gnarled roots —
autumn loneliness
hunter’s moon darting through the forest pines
burning bush
what to become
when I’m old
B positive
even my blood type
full of advice
(originally appeared in Modern Haiku, 45:3)
advised
to deadhead the columbine
I hesitate
recalling cutting remarks
never forced me to bloom
in a moon garden
filled with night bloomers
we stroll away
a blue hour
your hand in mine
moonlight thinned to a single strand–
and still no word
(originally appeared in Not Asking What If, Muse-Pie Press, 2016)
ball four
a pop can snaps
& hisses
traffic stop
the neon buddha tries to claim
diplomatic immunity
stop light
a beggar feeds
on traffic
Upset over news
of refugees fleeing
war and poverty
I create one more
wiping away the spider’s web
(originally appeared in What Light There
night of ghosts
bumping in the bare branches
the lost kite
(Included in A Dictionary of Haiku, AHA Books; 2nd Edition, 1993-2013)